Miss Morton is 100!

        For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans
        to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope
        and a future.
                                                              Jeremiah 29:11

       

My second grade teacher just turned 100! It seems like a long time ago that I shyly sat in my little chair in that classroom at Avon Elementary School. Miss Morton was strict, very strict. I shivered in my chair in my crinilin petticoats under the dresses girls wore to school then, afraid to do anything wrong.

She must have been a good teacher. I learned a lot, I'm sure. But the thing I remember about second grade was the strictness of my teacher. Through the decades of my own teaching career, I have found that I needed some of what Miss Morton had. Discipline was the hardest element of teaching for me. What could have been look upon as a negative, her unbending strictness, is now a positive in my adult mind. I needed a little of it myself.

God chooses to bring into our lives whom He chooses into our lives for a reason. And He uses every experience for His glory and our ultimate good. It's that fact that I hang on to, with Romans 8:28 as proof, that makes this painting of life so beautiful!

God uses the vivid greens and bright blues of a day like today, with a whole day to myself and the sun warming the white azaelas with blooms bursting like popcorn in their thickness. He blends in the greys of stormy days, swirling those clouds we call problems into the other colors, making them more more rich because of the blend.

So it is with our lives. He takes the positive things: the family days that are so welcome, the friends who share our hearts, the close times with the Lord, the beautiful scenery, and one and on. He swirls in the hard times: the financial struggles, conflicts, misunderstandings, worry, fear, times when we forget Him and regret it, and that list goes on and on too. The resulting painting is stunning, just the way He planned it to be, all parts in perfect harmony, with an over all feeling of peace.

He's not through with the painting either. Like watercolor that hasn't quite dried yet, He will pick up a hue of circumstance and blend it with a tone of grace. What seemed like a tragic circumstance will be shown to be part of a breathtaking addition to our life stories. The awesome result could only have come out that way with the black and grey of suffering blended in.

How I thank Him that He is at work in our lives! I can't wait to see the finished product! Meanwhile, I'll trust Him with His divine paintbrush!